Harley Smith (Rayleigh, Essex) and Katie Stephens (Middlesbrough) claimed victories in last week’s English Men’s and Women’s Amateur Championships at Seaton Carew Golf Club in County Durham, but the manner of their respective triumphs on the final day could hardly have been more contrasting.
Smith, who finished second in June’s St Andrews Links Trophy, had endured the odd difficult moment during his run to the final, notably when he missed a 2-foot putt on the final hole to win his match in the round of 32 before holding his nerve at the first extra hole.
But when he defeated Frazer Jones, 7 and 5, in the semifinal and went 6-up on Will Tate through nine holes of the final, it appeared that the championship was his for the taking, not least because that sixth winning hole in a row had come courtesy of a hole-out for eagle-2 from 90 yards at the par-4 ninth. He extended that lead to 7-up through 13 and was still 6-up when the pair took lunch.
Whereupon Tate (The Caversham) claimed 1 and 2, then 6 and 7. Smith parried with wins at 9 (with yet another eagle hole-out, this time from 80 yards) and 15, but Tate won 11 and 14 in-between and, crucially, he won 17 and 18 when nothing less would do.
Alas, having clawed away at Smith’s lead all afternoon, Tate was spent. He hit his tee shot at the first extra hole out of bounds and could only make a double-bogey 6 while a mightily relieved Smith completed a winning birdie.
“It’s an unbelievable feeling,” the winner said. “With how the match started to the way Will played towards the end, it got very nervy, but I’m glad to be the English Amateur champion. The way he came back was unbelievable. At lunch I knew he was going to come out fighting and I knew it’d be a good game in the afternoon, but I kept telling myself to stay patient and keep chalking the holes off but he just didn’t let up. I was like, ‘Is this guy ever going to go away?’”
Last year’s winner Ben Brown, who caddied for his brother, Daniel, when he finished tied 10th in the Open at Royal Troon last month, qualified from the stroke-play stage but was knocked out by Jersey’s Josef Hacker in the round of 64.
If the Smith/Tate clash was a case of the hare and the tortoise, the women’s final was more of a nip-and-tuck affair.
Stephens and her opponent, Shivani Karthikeyan (Peterborough), traded blows throughout all 36 holes and the eventual runner-up held an advantage for much of the first 27 holes but neither player ever got more than two holes up on the other.
Stephens, who had tied fourth in the stroke-play stages and had needed extra holes to progress from her semifinal, went 1-up at the 13th hole of the second round and never conceded the advantage. In a curious echo of the men’s championship, the winner made a birdie 3 on the last hole (in their case the 36th) to win, 2 up, while the runner-up carded a double-bogey 6.
“It feels surreal,” Stephens said. “I can’t believe it but it feels pretty good. I think the turning point for me was getting to the semifinals as I’d never made it that far before (in a significant championship). I felt pretty confident about my game all week but I didn’t want to get cocky.”
Sadly, on Wednesday evening of the championship, Ian Shaw, one of the tournament referees, passed away while officiating at Hartlepool GC (which shared the stroke-play stages with Seaton Carew). An England Golf statement read: “A Durham County Golf Union Executive Committee Member, Chairman of Rules and Chairman of Juniors, Ian had a tremendous involvement in the game and golf truly was his passion.
“Ian had just finished doing what he loved so much, refereeing at a golf championship, where at the end of the day’s play, he collapsed with what turned out to be a heart attack from which he did not recover despite the best efforts of first aiders and the emergency services.
“We would like to thank England Golf staff, Hartlepool GC staff, volunteers, spectators and players who did everything they could in very difficult emotional circumstances.
“Those who knew Ian will remember him as a true gentleman, who loved our game of golf and gave so much of his time, knowledge and expertise for the benefit of the clubs and players within County Durham and the Northern Region. Our thoughts and prayers are with Ian’s family and friends during this difficult time.”
RESULTS
Matt Cooper